Friday, October 03, 2008

This is just an FYI post regarding a few things I found worth sharing.

First on, there happened recently, an Ig noble prize ceremony and the recipients included Dan Ariely, the author of predictably irrational, for his research showing that expensive placebo medicines work better than inexpensive placebo medicines. Other interesting researches honored include research showing that coco-cola kills sperms and that playing sounds that gel while eating something (like ocean waves while eating turkey) make the food tastier. Also some research that shows that exotic dancers earn better at the peak of their fertility cycle. to me all of this seems very interesting and rational research, but let us enjoy the spirit of the Ig noble and not start using coca-cola as a contraceptive.

Next, we have a list of five great and worth reading science books by readwriteweb: While I have read GEB, the others are still on my reading list especially Stuart Koffman's book At home in the Universee and Complexity by Waldrop. would love comments from my readers as to how they have found the above books, and what additional books they would suggest.

Finally, to celebrate the banned books day, Time recently published ten most banned books and it seems I am quite perverse in my tastes because some of the best books that I have read, and which are my fondest, belong to the list. The list includes 1984, Brave New world, Lolita and The Catcher in the Rye , all of whom I simply adore. I was surprised to find children' s books like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Harry Potter series included there, as having read and enjoyed them, I couldn't imagine why they could have been controversial. Now, I know from where to choose my reading titles. Next on my reading list I know why the caged bird sings.